Talking Origin with Ava DuVernay

On January 6th The Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles hosted a screening of Ava DuVernay’s newest film, Origin. After the screening, there was a Q & A conversation with writer and director Ava DuVernay and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor (Isabel Wilkerson). Both the film and the conversation afterward were emotional experiences and gave so much insight into DuVernay’s incredible filmmaking skills.

Origin is inspired by the critically acclaimed book Caste: The Origin of our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson. The film follows Isabel as she conceptualizes and researches the book. We go with her on a journey of love, loss, grief, and hope. When asked how Ava DuVernay was able to take a piece of academic text and turn it into an honest and heartfelt story, she said “I’m just writing a movie about a nice lady who is having a hard time”. In addition to reading Caste, DuVernay spent two years interviewing the real Isabel Wilkerson making sure that she could tell Isobel’s story in a real and honest way. 

The film itself is incredible. Be ready for tears and thought-provoking subject matter. But mostly be ready to leave the film wanting to hold your loved ones close and never let them go. 

The film deals with some very heavy subjects, connecting oppression, losing people that you love, and trying to find a purpose but what DuVernay would like the audience to focus on is the human aspects of traumatic events…the triumph of the human spirit. Ava believes that the human instinct is to care for one another. DuVernay speaks with as much grace, elegance, and intelligence as her filmmaking shows. Origin is an incredible, weighted, and emotional piece of media that deserves all of the attention and praise that the world has to offer upon its wide release. The film will be in most theaters starting January 19th.